Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

NEWS ROUNDUP

Death could be rare wolf attack Scientists and wildlife officials are investigating what appears to be the first documented case of healthy wolves killing a human in North America. The attack took place in November at Points North Landing near Wollaston Lake, Saskatchewan. The body of 22-year-old Kenton Joel Carnegie was found Nov. 8. Officials say the Oshawa, Ontario, man appeared to have been attacked by four wolves that had been eating garbage in the area for some time and likely had lost their fear of people. At least two wolves suspected in the attack have been shot, and an examination by Paquet found cloth, hair and flesh in the large intestine that resembled human remains. A final report on the attack is expected by mid-January, Paquet said....Column: The American Mind and the Big Bad Wolf Everywhere you turn these days, there seem to be headlines about wolves. “Idaho to Take Over Managing Wolves in January,” read an AP story in yesterday’s Idaho Statesman. “Wolfless Nevada,” declared another AP piece, in the Casper Star-Tribune. (That fascinating story was about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejecting a petition to delist wolves in Nevada, despite the fact that the species was completely wiped out in Nevada several decades ago.) Across the West, states are grappling with the question of how to manage wolves: whether or not they should be listed, what should happen when they interfere with ranching, how many is too many, who should be allowed to decide. In the ten years since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone, the animals have become a symbol of hope for wildlife lovers, a soul-stirring sign that the wild has not been entirely eradicated from the West. But for some ranchers and others who will never love the howling canines, the wolf is still a creature to loathe, a pest no better than a rat that should be left to survive only in the smallest possible pack numbers. If the headlines are any indication, it seems like the anti-wolf faction may be winning – though their victories are hidden behind a veil of dispassionate policymaking....House Passes Arctic Drilling With Defense Appropriations Today the House of Representatives passed legislation authorizing energy production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) by a vote of 308-106 as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act. The Arctic drilling provision is seen to complicate the appropriation of funds to support American troops at a time of war, and it does not belong there, opponents say. They see the vote as a political move to attach a highly controversial measure to a bill that is almost certain to pass. The provision was inserted at the last minute against the wishes of many members of Congress. Wilderness advocates are united in opposition to including Arctic drilling language in the Defense Appropriations bill. Today's House vote authorizes oil and gas development on 2,000 acres of ANWR's 1.5 million acre coastal plain....Caldera Trust opts for steers The Valles Caldera Trust decided to try to cut its losses from livestock grazing by approving a one-year experiment for fattening steers. That settled the whether-or-not part of a difficult two-part question. The second part, yet to be decided, is how many steers to run this summer on the Valles Caldera National Preserve. In reaching the decision, board members disappointed cattle growers at nearby Jemez Pueblo, who have been among the participants in the previous years' grazing programs, as well as some conservationists who thought the impasse could be solved by letting the program rest for a year. The decision came at the end of a public meeting Friday night in which financial concerns dominated....Trail options raise hackles It was a short winter trail, connecting McFarland Lake to South Fowl Lake on the Minnesota-Ontario border. For more than four decades, local snowmobilers zipped across it, eager for the walleye that could be pulled through holes in remote South Fowl's ice. But three years ago, Superior National Forest officials found out about it, and the fun ended. The trail, it seemed, cut through a small part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where motors have been banned since 1978, and was shut down. Now, in a dispute that recalls the clash of interests that occurred decades ago between environmentalists and motor enthusiasts over Boundary Waters access, the Forest Service is considering several options outside the wilderness area for a replacement route....Lead problem jams gun club After joining the Index Sportsmans Club in 2000, Bill Boardman always enjoyed target shooting with his shotgun in the scenic environment of Index. Boardman, 69, who has used shotguns since he was 10 years old, likes the marksmanship and competition of shooting as well as the camaraderie with club members. But it's been more than a year since Boardman shot clay pigeons at the club's shooting range in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest just west of the town. About a year ago, the U.S. Forest Service shut down the club's activities after a study found spots with high concentrations of lead from lead shot in the woods off the club's shooting range. The club's permit, which a club must have to shoot in a national forest, expired long ago. The study cost the federal agency about $10,000, said Larry Donovan, the agency's recreation special uses coordinator in Mountlake Terrace....Editorial: Reopening forest should be priority WE continue to see forest access roads closed, wilderness trails blocked and picnic grounds unfinished. Chantry Flat Road, a highly used link from Arcadia and Sierra Madre into Big Santa Anita Canyon, has been closed for almost two years, keeping families and most hikers out. Crystal Lake picnic grounds and campground atop Highway 39 also remains closed indefinitely. A combination of poor decision-making by the Forest Service and a spate of bad weather - a perfect storm of events - keeps large portions of the federal forest off-limits to taxpayers. Yet the U.S. Forest Service announced plans last month to build a second off-highway vehicle area near the West Fork of the San Gabriel River for about $200,000 to $250,000. It has launched the environmental analysis for the project, which would be paid for by a combination of county and state grants and volunteer labor. We're assuming that does not include the staff time of USFS personnel....Otter, Brady Spar Over Bill to Sell Public Land for Storm Relief Idaho's gubernatorial candidates are sparring over a U.S. House bill aiming to sell millions of acres of public land across the West -- including in Idaho. Representative C.L. "Butch" Otter, so far the lone Republican contender for the post being vacated by Governor Dirk Kempthorne, is one of 13 sponsors of the measure. It aims to sell up to 15 percent of Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land and use the proceeds to fund hurricane and disaster relief. Otter says privatizing the land will also add to tax revenue for isolated Idaho counties....Group expresses frustration with BLM The group working with the Bureau of Land Management to set public land policies in Northwest Colorado expressed concern last week with the bureau's schedule, saying it makes public involvement difficult. The Northwest Colorado Stewardship has worked with the bureau for the past four years on the resource management plan for the Little Snake Resource area. The resource area covers much of Northwest Colorado, including all of Moffat County. The plan will help set the bureau's policies for everything including oil and gas development on public lands, wilderness designations and off-highway vehicle use. The diverse group is made up of representatives from the energy industry, ranchers, public-land advocates and government officials. Last week, the group's planning committee sent a letter to John Husband, field manager at the Little Snake Field Office. In the letter, the group expressed concerns about the amount of time it has to review documents from the bureau.... Domenici proposes selling BLM land in Dona Ana County U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici is proposing that about 65,000 acres of federal land in Dona Ana County near Las Cruces be sold and that about 200,000 acres in the county be designated wilderness. Steve Bell, chief of staff for Domenici, R-N.M., said the proposal is intended "to bring some rationality to the development process" in the rapidly growing area. The legislation still is in the works, but Domenici plans to introduce it next year, Bell said. Under the plan, up to 65,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management property could be sold over the next two decades. BLM figures show about 1,500 acres of BLM land in Dona Ana County have been sold or traded during the past six years. Land sales would be overseen by an advisory board made up of representatives of the county, Las Cruces, developers and conservation groups, Bell said. Part of the money would be split by the city and county and some would go to fund conservation projects, he said....Much Is Riding on Ivory Bill's Wings More than 30 bird experts now spend each day in the swampy forests of eastern Arkansas, tying audio and video recording devices onto tree trunks, paddling quietly in canoes, and sitting on camouflaged wooden platforms near ancient cypresses, just waiting for the rare ivory-billed woodpecker to appear. More than six months after scientists announced to the world that they had rediscovered the presumed-extinct bird, they are in the midst of an unprecedented search for the icon. It is a campaign that could transform the nation's conservation debate, and it has already altered the small town adjoining the bird's natural habitat. "We've got all the people, the equipment in place, now all we need is a little luck," said Ken Levenstein, crew leader for the 22 scientists who are searching full time for the woodpecker until the end of April 2006 along with a rotating group of 112 volunteers. A group of bird researchers -- including officials from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the Nature Conservancy -- electrified birders in late April when they declared the ivory-billed woodpecker had survived undetected in the Big Woods, more than half a million acres of bottomland hardwood forest an hour's drive from Little Rock....Mo. governor asks corps to forego spring rise on Missouri River Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt said Monday the Army Corps of Engineers should abandon plans for a spring rise on the Missouri River next year or face legal action from the state. "This plan could devastate farm families' crops and would further undermine environmentally friendly navigation," Blunt said in a letter to the corps. After more than a decade of legal disputes, the corps in October announced plans for two "spring pulses," or releases of water from upstream reservoirs to encourage spawning by an endangered fish, the pallid sturgeon. Environmental groups seeking to protect river wildlife support the move. Blunt and other Missouri officials have long opposed the idea, fearing it could flood thousands of acres of farmland in that state. In his Dec. 16 letter, Blunt argued there is not enough scientific evidence to show a spring pulse will even help the pallid sturgeon. He said the plan is contrary to the corps' primary mission of flood control and navigation....History of energy in Jackson Hole According to historical documents, trappers John Carnes, his wife Millie Sorelle and John Holland were the first to homestead in Jackson Hole in 1884, entering the valley from Green River country via the Gros Ventre. Carness and Holland are credited with introducing wagon energy to the valley, hauling dismantled farm equipment via that route. Robert E. Miller, a shrewd businessman remembered as "Old 12 Percent," first brought a wagon into the valley via Teton Pass. By 1888, Jackson's population of 20 men, two women and one child lived a sustainable lifestyle, humbling by today's standards. All food was grown, raised, gathered or hunted locally. All houses, furniture and fuel were made of local timber. Nails had to be brought in from outside, often necessitating the use of wooden pegs in their stead. Candles were made of elk tallow, eliminating dependence on kerosene lamps. Elk hides were tanned and used for shoes and clothing. Water was hauled from creeks. All transportation energy was self generated, consisting mainly of foot, horse, ski or snowshoe. In 1889, Sylvester Wilson, his son, Elijah "Uncle Nick"Wilson, his married daughter Louise Smith, and Selar Cheney spent two weeks hauling six wagons over Teton Pass, two at a time, pulled by three teams of horses, effectively establishing the rugged Teton Pass as the valley's primary communication and transportation artery....It's All Trew: Childhood medications were simple, gave relief Early childhood open wounds were merely painted with iodine, wrapped with a clean rag and the ends ripped in strips and tied. Only serious wounds with bleeding were taken to the doctor's office because the visit required money, which was scarce as hens' teeth at our house. Most people raised in the country have a story or two telling of spending a lot of time soaking a toe, hand or foot in coal oil from stepping on a nail, chopping a toe with a hoe or like my episode where I split my big toe with a post-hole digger helping mother plant a rose bush. I spent an hour morning and night soaking that toe in coal oil. Today, 60 years later, when I trim the toenail on that toe I imagine I can smell coal oil...